Best Sausages (2013)

BierBeisl, Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger's Beverly Hills restaurant, can be on the expensive side. But Mairinger also delivers one of the city's great deals in its sausage tastings, which cost $35 for three sausage courses, each paired with a different beer, or $55 for five courses. Mairinger works with Continental Gourmet Sausage in Glendale to produce sausages to his exacting specifications, and whether or not you opt for the sausage tasting, the bratwurst, weisswurst and debreziner are not to be missed. Each sausage comes with a simple, thoughtful accompaniment. Bratwurst is seared lightly but with exactly the right golden snap, nestled next to spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut imbued with extreme vinegar acid, so fruity and flavorful you forgive the fact that your saliva glands are working overtime. The weisswurst, pale and plump and cozying up to some of sausage's lesser-known friends (nutmeg, for instance), is slow-simmered in milk and comes draped in milk-infused onions. Käsekrainer, similar to a Polish sausage but infused with Swiss cheese, comes with tarragon mustard and fresh horseradish. When you cut it open, it oozes cheese and fat, which might sound a tad gross but is actually straight sexy. 9669 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 271-7274, bierbeisl-la.com. —Besha Rodell